Brand new CEO, same old messed up Yahoo — Yahoo has finally found a new chief executive to replace Carol Bartz (who left in a huff) and he is Scott Thompson, who till recently was the president of the PayPal division of eBay A surprise candidate, it is not very clear what his strategy …

Google Android Market Tops 400,000 Applications — Google Android Market gave itself a nice new year's present last weekend. The total number of active applications worldwide in the Android Market reached the 400,000 milestone. Android Market has topped the 200K and 300K available apps milestones …

File-Sharing Recognized as Official Religion in Sweden — All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates …

Rick Santorum's Iowa Performance Helps His ‘Google Problem’ — Rick Santorum's performance in Iowa is good for his campaign, and for his Google problem. — Rick Santorum is the GOP presidential candidate known for his “Google problem.” A Google search of his name returns scatological results thanks …

Roku to Launch Cordless Streaming Stick for TVs — Roku, maker of competitively priced set-top boxes that stream Web video on TVs, is introducing a new device it thinks will offer a simpler option for Internet connectivity than some “smart” TVs. — Today, the company is unveiling plans …

Some Venture Funds Hit ‘Pause’ on Big Deals — SAN FRANCISCO—Over the past year, Marc Andreessen invested in a series of high-profile Web companies, including Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Groupon Inc. Now the Silicon Valley venture capitalist is hitting the pause button on such big-name deals.

Netflix's 20M members streamed 2B hours in Q4 of 2011 — Down from 25M+ streaming subscribers, Netflix is poised for growth again in 2012 — As Netflix continues to wrangle the conversation on its future, the video viewing and rental company announced that more than two billion hours …

2012 Mobile Industry Predictions Survey — First things first. From all of us at Chetan Sharma Consulting, we wish you and yours a very happy, healthy, and prosperous 2012. My thanks to all who participated in our 2012 Mobile Predictions Annual Survey. It gives our community an insider's view of trends.

Cisco's Alternative To Skype Has Quietly Been Killed — Cisco has quietly pulled the plug on its ill-fated consumer home videoconferencing system, Umi. This could be the final blow to the company's once-grand consumer plans. — Umi was introduced a little over a year ago, in October, 2010.

Disney and Comcast Link Up For Another 10 Years — Comcast has re-upped its distribution deal with Disney, which means the country's largest cable company will continue to pipe programming from ABC, ESPN and other channels into its subscribers' homes for another ten years.

Cuba criticizes Twitter for Fidel death rumor … HAVANA (AP) — State media on Wednesday accused the social networking site Twitter of helping spread a rumor that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro had died, and criticized anti-Castro expatriates it dubbed “necrophiliac counterrevolutionaries” for jumping on the story.

More on Windows 8's new refresh and reset options — Summary: Microsoft is readying some under-the-hood changes for reset/restoring Windows 8 PCs, some of which will be part of the February 2012 beta. — It feels like eons ago, but back in June 2010, when the first massive batch of information …